The Magician’s Apprentice

The magicians had abandoned their pursuit of the Sachakans for now, and were returning to the lowlands to meet reinforcements sent by the king. Tessia was looking forward to sleeping on a real bed again, and eating better food. Above all she was looking forward to not having fear constantly nagging at her. She could relax, knowing that they wouldn’t have to worry about being attacked by Sachakans at any moment.

Seeing dark shapes in the field ahead, Tessia grimaced. They had encountered animals dead or dying of starvation or thirst throughout their travels. She heard curses from the magicians and apprentices and silently added her own.

Then she realised that the leaders were urging their horses forward. She felt her stomach sink. None of them would be hurrying to investigate dead animals. As she reconsidered the dark shapes she began to make out human forms.

“How long ago, do you think?” she heard Werrin ask Dakon.

“Not long. A day at the most.” Dakon looked around and his gaze settled on her. His face held a grim question. Suppressing a sigh, she directed her horse to move alongside his and looked down at the first corpse, forcing herself to notice only the colour of the skin and condition of the flesh.

“More than half a day,” she said.

“These people aren’t dressed in clothes warm enough for the night,” Narvelan said. He had moved into the field and was riding back and forth, glancing from side to side. He came back to the road and turned his horse full circle. “Nor are some of them wearing shoes good enough for walking long distances. I think they had carts with them, probably stolen. There are trails of crushed curren moving out in all directions from this point. They must have seen their attackers and scattered.”

“More than one attacker?” Werrin asked.

“Have to be. They’ve all been killed with higher magic. One attacker would have to gather them together in order to kill them one at a time. This looks like at least four or five.”

“If these people scattered, then someone might have got away,” Werrin said. “We should follow all the trails and see if any don’t end with a corpse.”

Apprentices and magicians looked at each other in silent dismay, then each magician chose a trail and, with apprentices following, began to ride along it. As corpses were discovered calls of “found it” were heard. Dakon continued on towards a line of trees. Tessia heard the sound of running water and realised they were heading towards a stream.

Just before it they found the trail’s maker. He lay face down over a log. He turned his head to the side and stared up at them, eyes full of terror and pain. His breath came in short, painful gasps.

“He’s alive!” Jayan exclaimed.

Together they leapt to the ground and approached the man. Dakon spoke reassuringly, dropping to his haunches. Slowly the fear in the man’s face changed to hope.

“What happened here?”

“Told to leave,” the man whispered. “Magicians. Sachakans. On road.” He paused, the effort of talking clearly painful. “They... Elia. She told me... keep run... then...hit...”

Tessia gently examined him. “What hurts?”

“Back,” he gasped. “Front. Everything.”

She gently felt around his body. His ribs had broken in several places, some by an impact from behind and some from landing on the log, she guessed.

“Let’s get you off that,” Tessia said. She surrounded him with magic and eased him back off the log and onto his back. He groaned loudly, eyes wide and breathing fast. At least there’s no sign of the ribs piercing his lungs. He’s a very lucky man.

“Can you fix him?” Jayan asked. Tessia frowned at him, then was saved from having to choose between lying or voicing her doubts in front of the man by Dakon.

“Did you see which way they went afterwards?”

“Te...Tecurren.”

Dakon straightened, his face creased with worry. “I should tell the others.” He looked around. “It is not safe for you to stay here, if one stayed behind.”

“I doubt any would, if they were headed for Tecurren,” Jayan said. “They haven’t targeted anything that big or far from the mountains since Mandryn. If any of them are about they won’t risk drawing the attention of eight magicians.”

Dakon looked from Jayan to Tessia, then nodded. “You won’t have long. Werrin will want to get to Tecurren quickly.”

“I won’t take long,” Tessia assured him.

As Dakon strode away, Jayan stood up. “I’ll get your bag.”

“Thanks,” she said. As he hurried to her horse she turned her attention to the injured man. He stared back at her. Normally she would have known there was no way she could save him in the time she had. Most of the patients her father had treated for broken ribs had still died, despite being treated sooner and for less severe wounds.

But she had magic. Using it, she didn’t have to cut him open. She could move bone and cinch pulse paths. Placing her hands on his chest, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the flesh beneath the skin.

At once she knew that the damage had been worse than she had first realised. Most of his ribs had been shattered. Though the bones hadn’t pierced the lungs, they’d torn through pulse paths and damaged other organs. Drawing magic, she reached inside and tried to squeeze shut one of the ruptured pulse paths.

The man gasped in agony. Drawing away, she considered him again. What she had to do was going to be extremely painful. Footsteps behind her drew her attention. She sighed with relief as Jayan threw himself down beside her, her father’s bag rattling as it hit the ground.

“Careful with that,” she said. Opening it, she drew out her strongest cure for deadening pain. To her surprise, Jayan took the bottle from her.

“I can do the mixing,” he said. “Just tell me how much.”

He followed her instructions carefully while she cut away the man’s clothes, then they gave him the dose and watched impatiently as it took effect. Tessia placed her hands on his chest again.

Drawing magic, she pinched broken pulse paths and shifted broken bones back into place. But even as she worked she knew it wasn’t enough. There was already too much blood pooling inside him and too little in his pulse paths. Flesh that had been cut could not be held together by magic long enough to heal. If only I could make the flesh heal faster, she thought.

Even as she removed blood from within him to give room to his organs, she knew that too much had been lost. Then a shock went through the man’s body. She felt the rhythms essential to life become irregular, then fail.

When Dakon’s call interrupted her thoughts, she was not sure how long she had been staring at the dead man, trying to think how she could have saved him. There must be a way.

“Come on, Tessia,” Jayan said, his voice uncharacteristically gentle. “We have to go. You gave it your best try.” He looked down. “Better wash your hands first, though.”

She looked down at her bloodied hands and nodded. Moving to the stream, she squatted and let the water rinse her clean. Jayan picked up her father’s bag and waited for her.

Then she gave the dead man a last thoughtful, sorrowful look and headed across the field to join the magicians.

CHAPTER 27

Eight magicians and eight apprentices waited at the edge of the forest, silently looking at the cluster of houses several strides away. The village was quiet. None of the buildings bore any sign of damage. It was a scene of deceptive peace that might have proved a fatal trap to any visitor or passing traveller.

Would it have been the same had Takado intended to stay and occupy Mandryn? Dakon wondered. Did he kill my people and destroy my home only to make a point, and was that point directed only at me or to prove he could do what he did?

A family who had managed to hide from the Sachakans, then slip away during the early hours of the morning, had told the magicians what had happened in Tecurren. The tale they’d related, taking it in turns to pick up the story whenever the one speaking faltered, had brought back the horror and anger Dakon had felt when he’d learned what had happened to his own people. With the horror and anger came guilt and frustration that he could not have